The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Reviews
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the first brand-new top-down adventure in almost a decade. Fans might be used to long pauses between outings, but Echoes was worth the wait. It not only introduces Zelda's first canonical solo adventure, but merges familiar and new to create an incredibly creative and beautiful experience. Despite some graphical load issues, let's just say Zelda's first adventure presents a strong contender for 2024's Switch game of the year.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom flips the script, putting the fate of Hyrule on Princess Zelda's shoulders. While the game offers a vast world to explore with charming visuals and music, it suffers from repetitive gameplay elements, as many challenges can be overcome with the same few Echoes, though it still provides enjoyable moments of creativity and discovery.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is another triumph for Nintendo, an essential game on the Switch, which is absolutely unmissable.
Echoes of Wisdom does a good job setting up Zelda with fun and creative powers and a vast and adorable world to save. Echoes add fun creativity to puzzle solving, though do also have a tendency to break the game.
The result is a game that is the definition of a truly mixed experience - but if you take the rough and under-developed with the smooth and innovative, there’s a lot of fun to be had. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is perhaps a victim of being part of a series that has one of the highest batting averages of any franchise out there - what is ‘good’ by Zelda standards is great to many other franchises and publishers. This is by no means the earth-shaker that some Zelda games are - but it sits up there with many other classic 2D Zeldas just fine. I just wish Zelda herself felt a bit more defined and present throughout, given this is her first true playable debut.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a triumph of both style and storytelling. Princess Zelda feels like a true protagonist and doesn't simply "take Link's place" in the adventure. The creativity of the "Echoes" system is wonderfully done for the most part, and most will definitely want a new adventure of this nature in the future.
Echoes of Wisdom is a great maiden adventure for the franchise's eponymous princess, marrying old and new convincingly, and setting up a foundation for 2D Zelda games to thrive alongside their bigger 3D cousins.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom takes the best things from its Switch counterparts—and a few of the bad ones—and creates an incredible unique free-form top-down experience.
Echoes of Wisdom is a fantastic game that skillfully redefines the classic 2D Zelda formula, while taking inspiration from other games in the series. These changes will be noticed mostly by veterans, but even new players will find lots of fun here.
Review in Polish | Read full review
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom elegantly bridges old and new Zelda with grace and gusto. The Echoes system is inventive, the dungeon designs are strong and the whole experience feels like everything a classic Zelda experience should be. While minor performance issues hold Echoes of Wisdom back from being everything it could be, they're only minor blemishes on an otherwise stellar adventure fit for a princess.
A perfectly-paced, delightful twist on the classic 2D Zelda formula, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom takes everything Nintendo has learned from the Switch era and condenses it into a tight adventure jam-packed with heart. Through its wonderfully magical Echoes mechanic, satisfyingly diverse dungeon design, and unique blend of modern and classic design elements, this is both a celebration of the franchise's history and a bold first offering for Zelda as protagonist. Performance issues aside, Echoes of Wisdom is impossible not to love for newcomers and series veterans alike.
The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom is a unique new addition to the Zelda family. It’s wonderful to see the same boundless creativity celebrated in a smaller-scale title.
By marrying the expectations of a typical top-down 2D entry with the improvisational, do-it-yourself gameplay from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Grezzo has arrived at a winning formula that mixes old and new. That said, not everything is perfect: the echo system isn't great in combat situations and the game's dungeons demand more complexity.
Echoes of Wisdom lays the groundwork for the future of the Zelda series, offering a beautiful and exhilarating experience that blends classic elements with forward-thinking design.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Princess Zelda finally takes the stage in this magnificent farewell to the series' best generation, giving the top-down adventure a serving of the latest 3D entries' innovations.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is an utterly enthralling breath of fresh air for the Zelda franchise. Straying away from swordplay and quadrupling down on puzzles, magic, and monster summons is exactly what these games needed after decades of Link’s games adhering to a strict template.
If you’ve been hankering for a more classic Zelda experience, Echoes of Wisdom should do the trick. That said, with its unique Echoes mechanic in tow, this adventure feels like something new and old at the same time. Its gorgeous graphics and engaging soundtrack are a treat for the senses, brought down a peg only by some shaky performance woes. Still, the technical problems that Echoes of Wisdom has aren’t enough to dissuade me from recommending fans give this one a shot. Echoes of Wisdom is a wonderful, worthwhile addition to the Zelda library of games.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is one of the pleasant surprises of 2024. I expected a good game, but not as positive and creative an experience. Do you have a Switch at home? You need to play Princess Zelda's adventure!
Review in Polish | Read full review
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a wonderful first (no, CD-i doesn't count) outing for the titular princess. It's at once nostalgic and brand new, combining classic Zelda gameplay with the flexibility and freedom of the modern styles. It's a genuine delight from start to finish, with the only real complaints revolving around the fact that the performance hasn't improved from the last game that was developed on the same game engine. If you're a fan of Zelda, Echoes of Wisdom is a must-play.